How to apply variables?

Introduction to creating a merchandising strategy applying XO variables

Welcome! This article will provide you with a simple step-by-step guide to create a merchandising strategy applying variable in XO Smart Merchandising studio. Let's get started! 

 

What is XO Smart Merchandising studio?

XO console integrates a Smart Merchandising studio, a user-friendly interface for you to easily create and manage your business rules on each recommendation area, to blend our AI capabilities with your commercial goals and ensure optimal outcomes. 

For each area and use case, define, test and adjust the right mix of merchandising rules, using variables within a trigger and filter and boost rules functionalities.

You don't know how to create a variable in XO? Keep calm and click here. 

 

Prerequisites

Before we start, make sure you have access to the XO control panel and that your items feed is available in XO. If you do not have logins you can request access to an Admin user in your organisation.

If you don't know who is an admin user, the Support team can provide a list for you. You can open a request with us by clicking here and choosing “I/my colleague require access to an Attraqt service” from the use case drop down on the “Submit a request” page in the Support Centre.

You will also need to have variables created on your XO account, if that's not the case please see the article how to create a variable.

 

Scenario

We will base the scenario on a specific example. 

In this case, we would like to apply a specific rule on the list page of Huub Triathlon Dry Bags. On that page, we are going to force new products being recommended on the first four distributions and the remaining ones will be powered by the most popular algorithm. For the purposes of this guide, we will use an XO demo account and variables created for this account.

 

Step 1

Log into the XO console panel and click on the widget that you would like to update/apply a merchandising strategy. For the purpose of this demo we will use the widget "PLP"

 

Step 2

Next, we need to define the split of strategies that we would like to have on this specific widget. 

In this example, I'm going to have two distributions, the first one with 4 recommended products and the second distribution with the remaining ones in order to have the full list page powered by XO recommendations.

 

Step 3

At this step, we are setting up the strategy for the list page of Huub Triathlon Dry Bags. To define a specific rule for this page please click on the first distribution of products and scroll down to apply the triggering rule. 

 

Step 4

Next we need to apply our variable on this triggering rule. Just a friendly reminder about our strategy: recommend new products on the first row of products of a specific list page. We have created before the variable $category to identify a product category of a product or list page. Please select this variable and the value of Huub Triathlon Dry Bags to activate this rule. 

 

Step 5

 Now let’s apply our merchandising rule. In order to recommend new products of this category, we need to apply the tag NEW and the variable $category to match with list page category.

 

Step 6

Next, we need to apply our last merchandising rule for the remaining list page. This configuration will power all list pages because we are not setting any triggering rule. Scroll up and click on the second distribution and add the variable $category on Required tags (AND) to match the category of the list pages of the site

 

Step 7

To complete this configuration scroll down and click on "Update ".

 

Step 8

We have now completed the configuration of our PLP strategy. We didn't apply any algorithm on the above merchandising rules. By default, the following configuration will be applied: User recommendation (als),Most popular items (basic) and Most trendy items of the moment (basic). 

The applied TAG variable will tailor the recommendations that our algorithm will pre-select. 

 

Conclusion

Congratulations! You now know how to create a merchandising strategy applying XO variables. Let us know in the comment section if there are other test scenarios you would like us to create how-to guides for.

Enjoy your XO experience 😊

Should you encounter any difficulty setting up those merchandising rules on your own please don’t hesitate to contact us by clicking here or clicking the submit a case link on the Support Centre and choosing “I have a question” from the list of use cases.